Psychology Commons^™

Treatment Acceptability Of A Well-Established Cognitive Behavioral Therapy For Panic Disorder In A Passamaqyoddy Community, Elizabeth Ranslow

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As a step towards evaluating the cross-cultural effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy for panic disorder, treatment acceptability was used in the current study to gain an understanding of the treatment utility and social validity of that treatment with a group of Passamaquoddy individuals. American Indian communities face substantial psychosocial challenges (e-g., poverty, discrimination, and high rates of violent deaths), which are associated with increased risk for psychopathology, and there is little empirical evidence of the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy within these communities. The current study addressed these issues in two phases. In phase 1, qualitative methodology was used to …

Infant Heart Transplant: Perioperative Indicators Of Neurocognitive Development, Joy Michelle Gardner

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Approximately five to eight births per 1000 in the United States are born with a congenital heart defect (Limperopoulos et al, 1999), the primary defect in 57% is hypoplastic left heart syndrome (Johnston, 1991). A fatal disease twenty years ago, survival has jumped from less than 5% to 91% of infants surviving their one-month birthday due to advances in palliative and transplant procedures (Razzouk et al, 1996). Unfortunately, the decrease in mortality has been unmatched by a decrease in morbidity, which continues to be a major risk factor when undergoing deep hypothermia (du Plessis, 2000). While neurodevelopmental and cognitive dysfunction …

The Addition Of A Dissociation Module To Dialectical Behavior Therapy, René Keres

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT; Linehan, 1993a), a manualized treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) was developed before the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual - 4th Ed. (DSM-IV, APA, 1994) added dissociative symptoms to the diagnostic criterion for BPD. Hence, the manual (1993b) did not properly address the assessment and treatment of dissociation, a necessity being mandated by the American Psychiatric Association (Oldham et al., 2001) in their treatment guidelines for BPD. Recent studies (Bohus, et al. 2000; Koons et al. 2001) confirm this hypothesis and have shown that DBT is effective with lower levels of dissociation but does not address more …

The Effects Of Competition And Perceived Pressure On Performance Of A Visual Scanning Task: A Test Of Cognitive Evaluation Theory, Tanya R. Adkins

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Cognitive Evaluation Theory was developed by Deci & Ryan, (1985) to explain factors that affect intrinsic motivation. This study was done to test this theory by having volunteers engage in direct and indirect competition while working on a simple task in a time-pressured environment. Specifically, it was predicted that task performance would be adversely affected in competition because participants would be focused on the outcome (winning versus losing), while being faced with a deadline for task completion. In addition, a reduction in intrinsic motivation toward the activity was expected. While these hypotheses were not supported, a proposal was made that …

Directing Attentional Resources Toward The Appropriate Information Processing System: A Test Of The Effects Of Processing Preference And Information Presentation Mode, Michael Edward Gosiewski

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Many studies have been interested in how people process information and follow instruction. The current study was developed to add to the existing knowledge about working memory through having participants receive instructions in different presentation mediums. It was further theorized that two processing preferences, need for cognition and need for affect, may moderate the relationship between instructions and performance. These processing constructs represent an individual's motivation to experience cognitive-based earning or emotion. Both the processing preferences and presentation types have been linked to hemispheric specialization. It was also hypothesized that an individual's level of creativity may influence their performance on …

An Analysis Of Intention Formation As A Function Of Prospective Memory In Air Traffic Controllers, Jennifer Nagle

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Prospective memory, or memory for future intents, is an important part of everyone's daily life. Air traffic controllers whose jobs are based in an environment that taxes their memory resources for extended periods of time rely on this type of memory. Controllers objectives often change based on incoming information and the amount of traffic they are controlling. It is important to investigate how controllers form intentions for future events, what processes facilitate retrieval of this information, and establish what influence experience may have. This study proposes to assess controllers in an air traffic scenario by employing a cognitive task analysis …

Academic Performance, Persistence, And Cultural Congruence Of African American Males Attending Predominantly White Colleges And Universities, Darrell Johnson

Dissertations

The continued lack of success for African American males attending predominantly White colleges and universities is alarming and unsettling. Other racial minority groups are making positive gains relative to their post-secondary educational experiences. However, the African American male lags behind in virtually every index of success in higher education. This trend could produce serious social, economic and cultural implications for the African American community and the entire country.

For African Americans, a strong sense of culture is important to their ability to achieve high levels of mental and psychological functioning, particularly in environments they perceive to be hostile or unwelcoming. …

Do You Recall Where You Where When...?: Support For Automatic Encoding Of One's Location, Kristen Lea Neal

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The present experiment tested whether one's personal location is automatically encoded into memory. Twenty-one groups of students were given a tour of the Marshall University campus. At each of 10 locations on the tour, participants were told an interesting fact about the University. Participants were informed of a test following the tour assessing their recall of the facts. In addition, half of the participants were also told their recall of the location at which each fact was presented would be tested. Immediately following and two weeks after the tour, participants completed a memory test which assessed their (a) recognition of …

Event Knowledge And The Subjective Temporal Distance Of Past Events, Travis Mcteer

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Three studies investigated a proposed relation between memory quality for past events and the subjective temporal distance of those events. The findings support the hypothesis that those events that are remembered more vividly and in greater detail tend to feel closer than more poorly remembered events. Studies 1 and 2 establish a correlational link between memory quality and subjective distance. Study 3 uses an experimental design to demonstrate that an individual's memory quality for a past event can affect his/her rating of the subjective distance of that event. The results are discussed in terms of the associations between feelings of …

Exploring Women's Experiences Of A Medically Necessary Caesarean, Michelle Cotterell

Theses : Honours

Caesarean delivery accounts for approximately one in four births both in Australia and on a global level. Examination of the experience of caesarean delivery is limited, although as caesarean delivery rates are increasing, a practical understanding of the constructs surrounding surgical birth needs to be gained. This review aims to present an overview of the current literature exploring the mother's experience of caesarean delivery. The different modes of medically necessary caesarean delivery, both unplanned and planned are defined. Societal views of caesarean birth as an easier and convenient mode of delivery in comparison to vaginal birth are described and it …

Improving Preschoolers' Memories For The Sources Of Events: A Comparison Of Two Source-Monitoring Training Techniques, Francine M. Pilon

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Preschoolers have a tendency to confuse the sources of events when recalling information. Two source-monitoring training (SMT) techniques were compared to see whether source confusions can be reduced in 3- to 4-year-old children (N = 37). After watching a puppet-show and story, children were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: two SMT conditions (explicit and implicit) and one control condition (memory training) where they were trained on non-target puppet-show and story events. The explicit method consisted of a clear mention of both sources (story, puppet show) and their modality (hearing and seeing, respectively) during training, specific instruction to utilize …

The Association Of Working Memory And Anxiety With Skill Acquisition And Transfer In Young And Older Adults, Isabelle Valk

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Two studies, involving a total of 184 adults between 17 and 89 years of age, were conducted to determine whether age differences in skill acquisition and transfer could be related to age differences in working memory functioning and anxiety. In both experiments, working memory functioning was measured using the Digit Span task (Wechsler, 1997) und the Reading Span tusk (Daneman & Carpenter, 1980), while anxiety levels were measured using the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger, Gorsuch, Lushene, Vagg, & Jacobs, 1983). Participants were required to perform a mental arithmetic task in Experiment I, and a visual numerosity task in Experiment …

Crisp And Fuzzy Signal Detection Theory And Pilot Weather Judgment: Implications For Vfr Flights Into Imc, Joseph T. Coyne

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Weather represents one of the greatest hazards to general aviation (GA), accounting for 15% of the GA accident fatalities. Of the fatal weather accidents 90% are attributed to visual flight rules (VFR) flight into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). The situation assessment hypothesis suggests that pilots may inadvertently enter IMC because they lack the sensitivity needed to distinguish between visual meteorological conditions (VMC) and IMC. An alternative hypothesis is that pilots recognize conditions have deteriorated but are motivated by some other factor, such as pressure from passengers. The present study uses Jensen's Pilot Judgment Model and Signal Detection Theory to explain …